Man fatally shot in Mid-Town lived nearby

Scott Dance, The Baltimore Sun

The man who died after a shooting early Friday near the Belvedere Hotel was a photographer who had moved to Mount Vernon from Gettysburg in April and was a friend of the second victim, according to police and people who knew him.

Joseph Alexander Ulrich Jr., 40, was from Smithsburg but had been living in the 900 block of N. Calvert Street, police said. Ulrich, who went by Alex, died about 11 a.m. Friday, hours after the early morning shooting in front of a historic home owned by the second victim.

That man was in critical but stable condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital on Saturday, police said. Neighborhood leaders have identified him as 56-year-old Lawrence R. Peterson, owner of the Empire House, which he restored in the 1990s. In recent years he rented out rooms there, they said. They called Peterson an unofficial mayor of the area, working to bring residents to the neighborhood.

Police said the two victims were outside the building in the first block of E. Chase Street about 4 a.m. Friday when a man, accompanied by a woman, opened fire. He said investigators were unsure of a possible motive.

Ulrich moved to Baltimore to launch his career as a photographer, friend Michael Furr said. He had previously worked with troubled youth and was a graduate of what is now known as Salisbury University.

His photos had been part of the inaugural exhibition at Metropolis Collective, a Mechanicsburg, Pa., art gallery that opened June 1. It was his first time showing his work in public, said Danielle Charette, the gallery's owner.

His photos were taken down just two days before his death, Charette said.

"When we opened our gallery, I decided he was very talented and to give him a shot of hanging in a gallery," Charette said. "He's a friendly face in our community."

Police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call homicide detectives at (410) 396-2100.